ALBANY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Institute for Therapeutic Discovery has launched a long-term project to intentionally regulate the placebo response. A placebo response is often thought of as a faith-based response to a treatment modality that of itself has no proven therapeutic value. Whatever the form of belief, that agent triggers a cascade of biochemical or biophysical events that results in a desired clinical outcome even though the agent, itself, has no proven utility.